Quebec City bus drivers poised to strike Monday

With little progress at the negotiating table, municipal bus drivers in Quebec City are preparing to walk off the job Monday morning.

Quebec's essential services council approved an agreement Wednesday between the public transit authority, the RTC, and its drivers, setting out which buses will continue to run at key times if the drivers go on strike.

"We are still in negotiations. There has been no change. There has been no progress either," said union president Ghislain Dolbec.

Some routes to run during strike

Commuter bus routes — the Métrobus, leBus and eXpress, with the exception of bus lines numbered in the 100s — will continue to function on their normal schedules between 6:15 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. and between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on weekdays.

All bus routes serving school children will also run in those time periods, as well as during the lunch hour, from 11:30 a.m. to 13:45 p.m.

A smaller selection of bus routes will also serve transit users on weekends, from 6:15 to 9:15 a.m, and from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.

After the designated time window for essential service has ended, bus drivers will stay on the route until the last passenger has disembarked.

Adapted transit not affected

A strike will not affect adapted public transit for people with disabilities.

Bus drivers will not use the Nomade GPS service that allows riders to follow the location of buses in real time. However, they will verbally inform visually impaired passengers of their location on the route.

Buses that will run

Here are the bus routes that will operate 6:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday to Friday: